Virginia Receives Grant to Help Process Rape Kit Backlog

What to Know

A backlog of more than 2,000 Virginia rape kits are being tested in Lorton.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring applied for a $1.4 million grant in 2014 to allow for the tests.

Officials hope the results help them identify additional crimes as well as solve open cases.

Virginia’s attorney general hopes to clear the commonwealth’s backlog of rape kits within the next few months.

Over the past two months, forensic scientists in the labs at Bode Cellmark in Lorton have been working tirelessly to test more than 2,000 backlogged sexual assault kits from around Virginia. Some of the kits are almost three decades old.

“We're seeing this unprecedented surge in testing that we’re experiencing today as we're working with cities and states around the United States,” Bode Cellmark General Manager Mike Cariola said.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring applied for a $1.4 million grant in 2014 to allow for all of the commonwealth’s kits to be stored and tested at Bode Cellmark.